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Chapter 4 Dr. Ivan Harrow disconnected the Comm-Link with a forceful gesture, reflecting his feeling of annoyance. He really respected Paul Masters and he simply adored Martha, but he hated to be called while he was attending a lecture at the annual Galactic life-sciences Conference. This time it was being held on Earth (Terra) and on the ancient and hallowed grounds of the famous Cambridge University. Even though he was unable to attend in person this year. He was there only via GalNet tele-presence avatar, it was still a special kind of honor to be one of the featured lecturers. Only moments before his Avatar projection proceeded to the lectern, Paul Masters called him to ask him about technical details on floater shields and ruined his concentration and state of mind. He expected Paul Masters to understand those things. He wasn't a Flier expert for Mozart's sake, but everyone knew CHOPERS were safe and there were only three incidents on Green Hell in which a flier was damaged. Besides both Paul and Martha weren't new to Green Hell and had been on here for almost as long as he had. Ivan gave the Comm Unit one more glance and then reclined on the new Virtu Presence Couch, that had been delivered only a month before. He told the Computronic to make sure he was not disturbed for any reason and then activated the direct neuro-connection to the GalNet terminal and reconnected the Avatar session. He was a Botanist and had little interest in the fantastic technology that allowed him to bridge a distance measured in hundreds of light years without any noticeable delay. He was only interested in the fact that he connected and found himself standing in a conference room filled with distinguished colleagues, scientists and experts from all over the Union. He did know the basics however, as everyone did. Field projectors created a form-field energy cocoon that simulated his body shape. A three dimensional image of him was projected onto the inside of that field. Gravitation and mass simulators gave the projection substance and allowed him to interact with objects and other beings. What his simulated senses experienced was fed directly into his brain. He could see, hear and feel what his avatar was feeling. Only smell and taste were still hard to simulate and therefore ignored in these non-entertainment Avatar GalNet units. Avatar Enabled GalNet terminals were still a new technology and incredibly expensive, but next to the Union Fleet, the Science Corps was the best funded government agency. Right now Dr. Nalg Nokes, a fish faced Ult stood behind the lectern, wearing a semi transparent water circulation suit designed to keep the amphibian well hydrated. Dr. Nokes was an authority on the field of marine botany, a good friend of Ivan and as the little silvery pyramid shaped emblem on his suit attested he was a member of the Hive of Minds. The Ult gestured with his webbed hands towards Ivan and his slightly amplified voice carried to the last seat in the auditorium saying, "Without further ado let me introduce the lecturer of this hour, my esteemed colleague and dear friend Dr. Ivan Harrow, senior lead researcher of the Life sciences department at Ant Hill on Planet Green Hell. He and his fellow researchers risk life and limb every day to unravel the mysteries of this truly unique and dangerous world." Ivan ignored the small blinking light that appeared in his field of view, signaling he had an urgent call. He blinked it away, thanked the Ult for the introduction and approached the lectern. In the audience before him he saw ant-like Klack, olive skinned Sarans and four stately looking Pan Sarans. There was a Takkian sitting right next to a Pertharian giant. To his surprise he noticed an X101. These chrome skinned sentient machines were among the best engineers, but to see one at a Bio sciences conference was something unexpected. The three silver haired beauties in the first row were of course Saresii and he wondered if one of them was actually a real female. A humanoid shaped being, covered in a deep green tight-fitting suit and a helmet with a mirrored faceplate sitting right next to the Saresii must have been a Non-Corp. These beings without real bodies could only interact with others wearing special containment suits, the fact that they made the surface of a sun their home was something he could barely comprehend. Without further ado, he began with his lecture on Trapper palms and their intricate symbiotic relation to microbial mites. The audience was a knowledgeable assembly of scientists and they only interrupted his lecture with valuable questions and observations. As the last of his interactive three dimensional presentation images faded away and he had reached the end of his lecture, the audience applauded his efforts which gave him a deep sense of accomplishment and pride. It was the faceless Non Corp who raised his arm and said with an artificial sounding voice, "Dr. Harrow. I am Nine-three-eight, which is the closest approximation to what my kind uses for names and I am the first Botanist PhD of Non Corp origin." Ivan smiled at the alien entity and motioned him with a gesture to continue while he congratulated the being for his academic choice, "It is a rewarding field of study Dr. Nine-three-eight and I'm delighted to hear a Non Corp made a similar career choice as I have done." Other members of the audience also added similar sentiments and the Non Corp nodded gracefully and said, "My motivations to choose this field were many, but I did raise my simulated arm to ask your opinion, Dr. Harrow. I have read and studied Green Hell by reading as many papers and publications as I could process so far. There is a wealth of information on a host of fascinating life forms indeed, but it does not appear as if life on Green Hell came from one source and that there are hundreds of Evolutionary processes running simultaneously, some completely alien to the other. It would appear that there is no common denominator among these lifeforms." The Non Corp now raised both his arms, "The only common thread I can find is the disproportional array of body weapons, poisons and other means of lethal attack. To me it looks almost as if life on Green Hell was designed by someone and each life form is part of an experiment or project. What is your professional opinion on this?" Dr. Harrow put down the simulated PDD his Avatar hands were holding and said, "This, my dear colleague is the reason for the Science Corps deep interest in Green Hell. This is the reason for all the research we conduct and what we call the Green Hell Question. Evolution on every world in the known Universe follows certain patterns. Even life on your Star, as alien as it is to many be for us, developed from one source, but not on Green Hell. The Lighting Bolters have no evolutionary connection to the Water Snakes, or the Stompers or any other life form on Green Hell. The same as the snakes, they too have no real connection. There is not a single DNA commonality between the Moolax spinners and the Pandora Swans and no one has yet been able to find out why." He took a few more questions and discussed speculations and theories with others, then he reluctantly severed the connection. It took him a few moments of feeling dizzy and disoriented before he was completely back. His assistant stormed into the room and said with a breathless voice, "There has been an accident. The flier went down. We think it crashed." ROY Roy stared at the beast in front of him, this animal was covered with short black fur, except around the neck area where the fur formed a thick mane; it had four legs and a boxy brutish looking head, with two ears and small horns on the crown of its skull. Roy estimated it to be perhaps 140 centimeters tall from ground to its back, the head slightly higher, attached to the torso by a short but massive neck. The animal was perhaps 300 centimeters long and had a short thick tail. The muscles of the animal were well defined under that luscious shining black fur and it gave the being a massive and strong appearance. It had two eyes that glowed dark red and had no visible pupils. The short broad snout was topped by flaring nostrils. A pair of long canines emerged from the upper jaw past the chaps and extended at least 40 centimeters past the lower jaw. Only now did he notice the dark metal band around the beast's neck with short cone shaped metal spikes in even intervals all around its colossal neck. It was something man made, it was a collar! Roy sighed and relaxed, this was not an animal native to Green Hell. It was quite obviously a pet, a tamed animal. Terrans especially, but other cultures as well, found joy in keeping domesticated Pets. Domesticated life forms were unknown on Green Hell, as no foreign life form could survive the Jungles even for a few moments. Ranger Solomon had a tank of fish in his office, but those were the only off world animals Roy knew of. His friends however, secretly kept Green Hell animals as pets, unknown even to their parents. Norm often teased him, that he was not a 'real Greenie' as he had not managed to befriend a local life form as of yet. Norm theorized that being able to become friendly with a Green Hell monster was the ultimate proof and hallmark of a real next generation Greenie. Out of an impulse he hadn't thought through, Roy reached out and touched the animal and said, "Are you lost, Partner?" The animal opened his terrifying maw and for a moment Roy thought he was done for, but instead of being maimed or bitten in half, a huge blackish tongue appeared and licked him straight across the face. The big black tongue was dry and felt like a metal sanding disc as it charred across his skin. As the animal licked him, he received strange new and foreign images in his head. He saw images of deep space, stars, and planets as if looking through the view port of a space ship. Then he recognized one of the planets, it was Green Hell, a beautiful emerald green sphere. The planet seemed to became bigger and it was like watching a fast descent or fall, finally the images showed Green Hell jungles and then there was an image of himself. Roy's mother was a native of Phantas and like almost every Phantasian she was gifted with psionic powers, not that he ever known her to use her telepatic abilities on him, but he was no stranger to Psionics. His grandmother Carina used to come and visit them and she demonstrated her telekinetic skills and transmitted her affection towards Roy almost the same way as the animal did now. His father, Paul Masters, was only seven points below the Heidelberg Psi Index threshold where Psionics usually emerged in a being. Roy however did not inherit any of his mother's abilities. His HPI was a disappointing 56 and well below the level of even the weakest form of Psionics to manifest. Roy, like every other Union kid, had been subjected to the mandatory HPI test on the first day of Union School. Union PSI laws were very strong and the Psionic Power Registration Act required everyone's Psionic abilities to be tested and if such abilities existed trained and registered. It was this knowledge and exposure that he didn't freak out as these strong images flooded his mind. Of course he was still quite unprepared and surprised by the sudden Psionic contact. In all this he sensed that the animal meant him no harm and that it was quite intelligent, but unable to communicate in any form of language or truly coherent thought. Roy petted the animal's immense shoulders. While the black fur felt as soft as the finest Velvet; just like the dress Melissa once wore; the body and the muscles underneath that fur were as hard as Ultronit. The animal lowered itself to the ground so Roy could pet it more easily and he felt waves of affection and pleasure radiating from the animal. Roy could not help himself and smiled, "I like you too. Let's see if we can get you home! This is no place for an Off-world pet. Do you belong to someone?" As Roy asked this question he received a mental image of himself as if the animal wanted to say: I belong to you. Roy opened his wrist com and dialed for the ranger station. It took only a moment and Ranger Solomon's face appeared. "Hi Roy," the local law man greeted him with a broad smile on his face. "Bob is already at that secret meeting place where you guys always hang out and I am sure he is waiting for you already." Roy said to the father of his best friend, "Good afternoon Mr. Solomon. I am on my way to see Bob and the others, but I was calling to ask if anyone reported a missing Off-World pet. I think they call them dogs or something like that." The Rangers forehead wrinkled while both his eyebrows rose up in open surprise. "What a strange question, Roy. No there are no such reports and there could not be, as Off World pets and animals are not allowed on Green Hell. Don't tell me you are outside again!" Roy tried to shield the optic pick up as much as he could, so the Ranger would not see the Jungle background, but of course it was way too late for that, "Well I am sort of a little, but not really far. I was just curious if someone is missing a pet." The Ranger knew of course that Roy was outside and said with a smirk, "Your father is going to have a field day with me if he finds out I know that you are outside." Roy snorted and raised his chin a little in a defiant gesture and said, "I told them that I was outside Sir. I told my parents I went outside many times. They just don't believe me" The Ranger knew that no one would really believe him either and that was the main reason he didn't make it an official issue. He smiled weakly and sighed then he said to Roy, "Anyway be careful out there. As for your question, no there are no reports of missing animals of any kind on the Ranger Network of this entire quadrant, including Green Hell. The only Off World animals I know of, are a swarm of Gold Fish in a tank in my office and they won't go anywhere." Roy asked, "How big does a Terran dog get?" The ranger shrugged his shoulders, unaware that this gesture would be lost on the small wrist display and said, "I have never seen a real dog Roy, so I don't know. Whatever it is you see is most certainly not a dog or a domestic animal. Stay well clear of it, take a few pictures and consult GalNet or ask your parents." Roy closed the call saying, "Thank you Mr. Solomon. I will do that, I mean I run a search on GalNet." With a wave he disconnected and switched to GalNet. "System, identify the life form in the images I am transmitting." The little Wrist Unit linked to the GalNet relay at Ant Hill, while a smart logarithm isolated the image of the black beast, calculated its size and weight then ran it against the most comprehensive collection of knowledge collected, the central data bank of the Science Council known to everyone in the Union as WALES. Normally a search lasted a few seconds at best. This time he waited almost a minute and then the warm male voice of WALES responded, "Insufficient data to identify. Seven life forms, nine mythical beasts and seventeen unsubstantiated references found. None match the received data to more than seventy percent. Do you wish to make a new entry?" "No, not at this moment." While he did all that he committed a deadly mistake, he had remained for way too long on the same spot and did not pay as much attention to his surroundings as he should have. An Insecto-Saurus broke through the thicket and was preparing to attack. His Sense of Danger did warn him, but he had been distracted. Normally he would have had no problem avoiding an Insecto. These beasts had no sense of smell and their field of view was restricted, by its own body. But now the Insecto had clearly made him out and his trick imitating the Snake sound would not work because Insectos had no hearing and besides Insectos attacked Snakes if they thought the snake was small enough for them to succeed. Worse yet, Insectos never had their heart at the same spot, it could be nearly anywhere in the main torso and their small brain was well protected inside a tough small skull. He had seen an Insecto continue to fight for several minutes even with a completely severed head. They were as tough as Stompers, and twice as fast. His mother once compared an Insecto-Saurus to a mix between overgrown Scorpion, Praying Mantis and Raptor Dinosaur. Roy never understood why they always compared anything to Terran life, he never paid much attention in school when they did talk about other planets life forms and did not know how those animals looked, but he knew the poisonous stinger of the Insecto would kill him as fast as the scratch of a Pandora Swan claw and that the scissor claws on the end of long arms were able to cut through a Tantalus Oak tree trunk and would have no problem clipping him in half. Roy realized he would die right here and now and while he was afraid to die, he did not regret it or hate the Insecto for it, this was how things went on Green Hell. He was a Greenie and this was how anything on this world eventually died. However death did not come as he expected, the black animal catapulted itself over the eight meter distance that separated it from the Insecto with one single move. Roy already imagined seeing blood and bits of black fur and was worried about the black beast and against all better judgment he remained still, instead of using the black animal's sacrifice as a diversion and escape. He had pulled his blaster anyway and held the Vibro Machete in his other fist hoping he might be able to fight the Insecto and help his new friend. To Roy's utter amazement, it was not necessary. The scissor claws of the Insecto slid across the black fur without even scratching the skin beneath. Those scissor claws were razor sharp and diamond hard sand yet they could not penetrate the black animal's skin. The Saurus screeched and hammered its poisonous stinger into the side of the black beast in a frenzied staccato, but the stinger was as ineffective as the claws, the stinger broke and drooled greenish poisonous slime over the sides of the black animal. The black beast had suddenly grown enormous claws out of the front of its paws and with them it ripped sizable chunks out of the Insectos body. The crystalline armor shattered like brittle glass while a shower of blood, guts and flesh sprayed everywhere. The black beast slashed its claws so fast through the air; Roy saw them only as a flashing blur. The black beast attacked with a level of vicious brutality and power like nothing Roy had ever witnessed on a planet where nature was more vicious and brutal than anywhere else. The Psionic connection he had with the animal transmitted a feeling of pure and powerful rage. It was over as fast as it had begun; the Insecto was nothing but a torn heap of shredded flesh and legs, barely recognizable for what it once was. The emotions of rage ebbed away and again filled Roy's mind with a feeling of devotion towards him. Swarms of Vamp Flies already buzzed around, attracted by the smell of blood. Roy knew ants would not be far behind. He jumped over a Fire Nettle and said to the beast, "We'd better get out of here, fast!" The animal reacted instantly, and followed him, sending waves of warmth and affection to Roy. There was no sense of pain or agony to suggest the black animal had suffered any wounds. Roy caught his breath and said, "Wow that was something! You sure did a number on that Insecto. I thought we are both done for." A feeling of deep pride caused by Roy's praise emanated from the animal and a warm sensation of deep affection was the answer. After walking beside the animal for a little while he got the mental image of him riding on the beast. "You want me to sit on your on your back?" he asked aloud. The image reappeared. Roy had never sat on an animal; the very thought of it was very alien to him, but for some reason he trusted that animal with his life and felt a sense of affection for it. Just as he realized his own affection for the animal, he was instantly rewarded with a returning swell of pride and deep satisfaction from the animal and the image reappeared, him sitting on the animal riding it. He pulled himself up by getting a hold on the ten centimeter wide metal collar and swung himself up on the animal's back. He kept his hold on the collar as the animal slowly moved forward. Roy could feel the rock hard muscles moving under the soft short fur in a steady rolling rhythm and after a little while he got used to the flow of motions and felt more at ease riding the beast. He examined the collar more closely. It was made of a dark metal and it was somewhat flexible, more like memory metal than unyielding Ultronit. Roy speculated that the animal was perhaps a local life form after all and just got caught in some sort of snare and what he initially identified as a collar was the remnants of such a trap. It was not unheard of that criminal Off-Worlders would come to Green Hell, trying to snatch and capture a few of the local monsters. He had heard stories the Ranger told at the dinners he shared with his best friends at the Ranger's home. Green Hell beasts could be sold to Death Fight Arenas of Free-space worlds and Exotic animal collectors for millions of Credits. The Ranger also said that these secret raids were extremely rare and of the ones he knew about, none succeeded with the Wildlife thieves dying in the Jungles just like any other Off-Worlder who underestimated the dangers of this world. But then there was the rumor that some Greenies secretly snared and trapped local life forms to smuggle and sell them to Exotic Animal Dealers. Every one knew about the Institute researcher working together with a local technician smuggling Insectos and a Stompers off planet. Both were arrested and now spent their time on a nasty Correctional Colony somewhere else. At least according to the Ranger. Roy did not really understand why someone would want to buy a Stomper just to kill it. While he was riding on the animal's back, his thoughts circled back to the black beast itself. While it could be a local life form, he somehow doubted it. Animals on Green Hell didn't have four legs. They had more or none, and no beast he had seen so far was as black as this one. He shrugged as his feeling and ideas didn't mean much. His mother estimated that less than five percent of all the estimated life forms on Green Hell had been cataloged so far and less than maybe five percent of the planet's surface was truly surveyed and mapped in detail. Again he cursed himself for being so preoccupied with the black animal that he missed the Decease-Dust Bush right before them, the animal waltzed right over it and the cherry sized purple pods at the tips of the plants branches exploded, dusting the black fur of the beast's chest with the deadliest nerve toxin known to man. Even the slightest amount on unprotected skin caused most known life forms to collapse in lethal convulsions. True Greenies were somewhat immune to it, still feeling the burning sensation and becoming very sick for week or two but they would not die. Being exposed to such a large amount however would have been lethal to anyone. Incredibly, the dust had no effect on the beast at all. Dagger bush branches lashed against its flanks moments later, the sharp thorns shattering or bending but not a single one penetrated or wounded the animal. Two Arrow wasps accelerated to rifle bullet speed bounced off its skin as if hitting a rock. It became apparent to Roy how this animal survived in the Jungles of Green Hell. It did not avoid the dangers like most other life forms did. It waltzed right over or through them and nothing so far that he could see had any effect on it. Just like a Stomper, but even a Stomper would have been affected by the Five-mouth centipede that suddenly appeared from its burrow underneath a Nettle bush and snapped its five pairs of mandibles into the skin of the beasts front legs. The beast's claws severed the centipede in pieces and stomped the rest into gore without slowing down. The animal responded to his mental directions like it was a part of Roy's body. When he wanted to go left, the animal immediately went left or avoided a danger as fast as Roy could see it. Roy once again paid full attention to his surroundings. Even though his new found friend could waltz through the Jungle like a Union Marine in fully shielded Battle Armor, it did not mean that Roy sitting on top could do the same. It didn't take long to reach the edge of the Jungle. There was a thirty meter wide shore line beach of stone pebbles, Terror moss and Murder Grass growing between the stones. Blister crabs were camouflaged looking just like shore rocks hiding among the gray and brownish pebbles and head sized boulders. This shore line edged the Great Lake all around the largest of the deep freshwater lakes of this world, or almost 5,544 kilometers. Today the weather was especially beautiful. The sweltering jungle heat and permanent moisture did not extend over the big lake. During the cold weather seasons, strong storms would whip the lake's surface into large, gist crested waves, and lapped over the pebble beach, but not today. The surface presented itself like a deep green mirror with the warm sun reflecting in it. Going East and following the shoreline for about nine kilometers, one would reach Ma Swenson's Boathouse and from there you could take a floater and fly to the big island where the City was, about 12 kilometers into the lake. One of these days, he wanted to walk the entire shore line all around, even realizing it would take him more than a year if he ever attempted it. When they built Ant Hill they did make survey soundings and concluded that the Large Lake was also one of the deepest of the planet with depths reaching 1,400 meters. So far no one had been down there or even begun to survey the lakes and the life forms that might lurk in them. The water of the big lakes was fresh and always cool and it was clean and could be consumed by humans without any ill effects. Some of the merchants at Ant Hill dreamed that this would be a good commodity to export, as fresh drinking water was always in demand on the Galactic Market. Right here at this spot of the Lake's shore was a group of boulders, pushed into the lake perhaps by a long gone planetary ice age. These nine boulders were free of ants and the lichen, covering some of the spots, was one of the few life forms they knew about that was truly harmless and had no lethal abilities whatsoever. These rocks had become their secret hang-out and it was here where he met with his friends almost every afternoon. Roy jumped off of the back of his new friend and said to it, "Wait here, Partner. I want to surprise the others!" He felt the answer and knew the animal had understood. He hopped and ran in measured moves between the patches of terror Moss and Murder grass as he had done countless times before, always on the look-out for crabs, and catapulted himself in a big leap across the water and landed on the first boulder. His friends were already here: Norm Stevenson, the son of the Major, Maria Scott, daughter of the City Engineer, Bob Solomon, his best friend and son of the Ranger and Melissa O'Malley, her family owned the Department Store and two restaurants in Town. Bob leaned against the brown furry body of Wobbler. Wobbler was an almost fully grown Moolax Spider, measuring about six meters across, legs included. Bob had rescued the spider from a Stomper when it was still small. Bob raised the spider and bonded with it and whenever Bob was outside, Wobbler would wait for him and follow Bob around wherever he went. Bob was the biggest of them all and the strongest of them. Like Roy he too wore his Grav-Adjuster dialed up since his sixth birthday. Bob had thick black curled hair and he had curls hanging down to the side of his temples in the tradition of his family and an old Earth religion, called Judaism. He also expressed his faith by wearing a little round hat on the top of his head. Bob called it his Kippah. Ranger Solomon would wear one like it whenever he did not wear his helmet. Bob once explained to Roy the significance of it, but Roy had forgotten. Roy was not religious at all, the only concept that came close to him was the feeling he had when he was out in the Jungle. Wobbler rose only a bit as he saw Roy coming, but then relaxed again. Bob grinned, "Finally, you made it! We thought you might not show up today." "My parents gave me another lecture and some bad news, and then I had to wait until they left." Melissa sat on top of the tallest rock. She was friends with Roy and the others ever since the first days of kindergarten when they all first met. Roy only recently realized that Melissa was a girl and not just one of the gang and that she became prettier every day and perhaps already was the prettiest girl in town. She had a mass of curly flaming red hair that surrounded her skin that had the same shine as the fine English china her parents kept in a locked glass case in their dining room. It almost looked translucent. Her long lashes framed huge green eyes, over a tiny nose and beautiful shaped lips. Lately she had begun to use a little make up and her lips were painted in a nice shade that matched her hair. She wore her Bio-seal suit skin tight and her body became more female-looking every day. Her suit had long dark green panels on the sides, starting at her collar and ending in her boots, the middle was white and this color scheme somehow enhanced her curves even more. At first it looked as if she wore a beautiful cape of silver, and an odd looking head piece with a long needle sharp point. The cape suddenly moved and Silver, her Pandora Swan, lifted his sleek head and turned it on the long snake like neck to look at Roy with hostile yellow piercing eyes. Melissa scratched the underside of his neck and the Swan lowered his head burying it in her mass of red hair and once more only his long sharp beak was visible. Silver would barely leave her shoulders and even though it had claws hard as diamond and sharp as knives, it somehow managed to never leave even one scratch on her delicate shoulders. The slightest scratch of those claws meant instant death as they were poisonous. She gave Roy a charming smile. Maria sat a little below Melissa and had her legs folded in the lotus position. On her lap was a partially dismantled blaster she worked on, her tool belt within reach. The big shoulder bag on her other side moved and the head of Snuggle appeared. Snuggle was a pelted two meter long Ninja Weasel. They usually did not appear during the day and were deadly night hunters, able to adopt almost any background color they came into contact with, blending into the surrounding and becoming virtually invisible until they attacked with razor sharp claws and poisonous fangs. It had a snake like body with two little arms that ended in clawed paws that had the same dexterity and an opposing thumb just like a human hand. They could coil and catapult themselves over great distances and use their long scaled tails covered with needle sharp barbs like a bull whip shredding their opponents. Ninja Weasels were the natural enemy of Pandora Swans as they usually raided the Pandora Swan nests for the eggs and the young, but here the two animals co existed within arm's length of each other. Snuggle blinked into the sun and at Roy then returned into the bag, but not before getting a Gummy Bear candy from Maria who didn't even look up from her work, doing it. She waved at Roy. "I am almost done with Norm's blaster." There was nothing Maria could not take apart, repair or improve. She loved tools and tech and working with her hands. Maria had long straight black hair and her bangs reached down to her deep brown, almost black, eyes giving her an always brooding somewhat sinister appearance and she often, especially when interacting with teachers or other kids used her hair almost like a personal shield to hide behind. She too had begun to lose her boyish body and had developed a nice and appealing chest line. Her suit was colored black and white. Roy wondered for a short moment why he would even notice Maria's chest and to find it somehow very nice to look at, then he was distracted as Norm surfaced and climbed out of the water and onto the rocks, Zisch his Water snake, slithered out of the water a second later, and coiled up behind Norm who toweled himself dry. Zisch put its head on Norms lap, fluttered its leathery head sails and as usual was soon asleep. Zisch was a real Water Snake, a very young one still but it visibly grew bigger every time Roy saw the animal. Zisch was about twelve meters long now and about as thick as a human torso. Norm had pulled Zisch out of an Ant attack, and washed and nursed the badly wounded baby snake to health again. Norm was almost obnoxiously proud of his Water snake. Norm was about as tall as Roy and just like Roy very athletic, but not as strong. He never had a Grav Adjuster. "Ah there is Roy!" he greeted, "the water is wonderful!" Roy looked across the surface and saw the half submerged head of a huge Water snake not too far from the rocks. It was Zisch's mother and ever since Norm bonded with the young snake the big snake was never far from the rocks to keep watch. Norm followed Roy's gaze and nodded, "Yes Zisch's mother is out there again, she makes sure nothing is harming me or Zisch. Of course I am a real Greenie and I would not suggest you try to go swimming! Water Snakes simply don't like Off-Worlders or pretenders." At another time Roy would have been offended as Norm had lately begun to tease Roy in a not too friendly way about the fact that Roy was not a real Greenie in his eyes, due to the fact that his parents were Off-Worlders. Roy said calmly, "So having a local life form as a pet makes one a real Greenie then?" Norm nodded, "We are all seventh to tenth generation Greenies and now we are the first generation bonding with what others like you for example think are mindless, killing beasts. It is as if the planet and all our glorious life forms have formed a bond that cannot be understood by those who still have Off World dirt in their veins." Melissa got angry and defended Roy with a sharp tone, "He is a Greenie just like us. Not even you would dare to go through into the actual Jungle as he does all the time." Bob agreed, "Fourteen Kilometers every day. If you are so confident in your Greenie heritage why don't you visit Roy on foot one day?" Maria snapped the last piece of the blaster she was working on in place and said, "Besides our animals don't harm him and accept him too. He petted Wobbler and Snuggle doesn't mind him, even Zisch isn't attacking him." Norm sneered, "Don't get me wrong, I am impressed by how Roy, an Off-Worlder, can navigate through our Jungles but no one ever saw him really doing it. He could hide an armor suit or something; he is just not one of us." Bob got up and flexed his muscles, "Do you want me to pound your face? What is it with you today? Roy is one of us and has always been! We all know Roy doesn't have an Armor suit." Roy shrugged, "If you want to see me go home, why don't you come along sometime?" Melissa nodded, "Good idea, I'll call the Major and tell him his son won't be home for dinner." Roy turned and called out loudly, "Partner!" At first nothing happened and Roy feared he had left his new friend alone for too long. Then the big black beast broke through the foliage, like a tracked Marine explorer tank it plowed through the dangerous foliage, crushed a few attacking crabs and neither the knife like steel blades of the Murder-Grass tuffs nor the squirting acid of the terror moss patches had any effect on it. Partner splashed through the water and jumped right next to Roy then sat down on his hind legs and licked Roy across the shoulders. The others were quite shocked and surprised by the stormy approach of the black beast. Silver flapped his wings and hissed at Partner. Wobbler had gone into attack stance. Zisch reared up and was about to spew fire. Even the big Water Snake in the water rose and slowly came closer. It took them a moment to calm their animals and then Melissa said, "Well, it looks like Roy is a Greenie after all. I have no idea what he found in the Jungles but it sure looks like an animal to me, a very big one too!" Bob scratched his head, "I've never seen anything like it either, but whatever it is it seems pretty tough. The Terror Moss didn't do shit to it! And not even Zisch would slither across that!" Maria got up and carefully approached, "Does it attack or can I touch it?" Roy petted the massive head of his beast, "No it won't attack. It likes you, you can touch it." Maria cooed, "Oh how soft its fur is! Just like Snuggle!" Norm waved his hands, "Maybe Roy is a Greenie, but that's not a Green Hell animal. I bet he bought it on GalNet. It has four legs. Nothing on Green Hell has four legs. Maybe it's a robot!" Maria shook her head, "That's no robot! I know every robot model there is and this is not a machine." Bob added, "How can you be so sure it isn't native? We know less than one percent of what's out there. No one really has been to the other side of the planet. Whatever it is, it walked with Roy in the Jungle and nothing off world can survive that." Norm had no real answer to that and had to concede. "Yes you are right, it must be a native life form, it survives, but I bet my Water Snake is tougher than whatever that is! Maybe I should ask Zisch's mom to fry it!" "I don't know what's gotten into you?" said Melissa and she glared at him with her big green eyes and they sparkled with emotion as she continued, "Why are you so aggressive towards Roy today? We have always been friends!" Maria slung her tool belt around her waist and closed it, and then she said from underneath her curtain of black hair, "Because we are growing up and we are not kids anymore. Norm has feelings towards you, and when you smiled at Roy it set him off. It's hormones that turn males into idiots." Norm blushed and Melissa gasped. Maria always said things in a blunt and direct way and nothing escaped her analytical eyes and sharp mind. Melissa stomped her foot, "You are all my friends. Please don't destroy that with petty jealousy games. I am not interested in you Norm; I mean other than being friends and neither am I interested in Roy. Can we not remain friends as we always have been even though we starting to notice that we are not all of the same gender?" Norm sat down and said with a weak voice, "Maybe I did over-react a little and I am sorry. Roy is a Greenie I know. I would never dare to try to make it on foot to his house." Roy shrugged again, "I can do it only because I live out there and have to do it all the time. I bet you could do it after a while just as I do, after all you are a Greenie." Norm liked what Roy had said and nodded, "Sorry Roy. Didn't mean to be such an asshole. I am sure you can bathe and swim all day long, Zisch's mother is protecting us all after all, not just me." Maria handed Norm the blaster and said, "It's fixed and next time make sure the trigger assembly is completely snapped into place or it isn't water proof." He took his expensive Enroe DE blaster and said, "Thank you Maria, I will." Maria cocked her head and said with urgency, "I can hear a Floater engine!" Everyone turned and tried to hide and duck between the rocks, but it was too late this time, a green painted armed hover tank with the logo of the Union ranger service on the sides appeared from above the Jungle and swooped down. Category:Rewrite in Progress Category:Fragments